• Contextually appropriate training programs and resources for emerging racial/ethnic clergy and/or lay leaders.
• Training programs and opportunities that develop children, youth and young adults in racial/ethnic churches.

2. Church Growth and Development

• The development of racial/ethnic new church starts and congregations.
• The revitalization of existing and emerging racial/ethnic congregations.
• The development and resourcing of multicultural congregations and ministries.

Program Criteria:

• The ministry/project must focus on racial/ethnic leadership development and/or racial/ethnic church growth and development.
• The ministry/project must involve racial/ethnic conference members (clergy and/or lay) in the planning, leadership and decision-making.
• Priority will be given to new programs. Grants funded in the previous three years will not be given priority for the funding in the current year cycle.
• Maximum grant for a project is $20,000 and applications must reflect other resources supplied by the conference. Annual conferences must contribute at least 10% of the requested grant amount, and the contribution must be reflected in the income section of the budget.

Click here to apply.
 
Racial/Ethnic Local Church Block Grant ($40,000) – Up to 5 Grants Available
 
Racial/Ethnic Local Church (RELC) Block Grants support racial/ethnic churches in the U.S. by funding ministries and programs focused on leadership development and church growth and development. Eligible congregations must have at least 51% nonwhite membership. Grants are awarded to conferences, which then use the funds to strengthen local racial/ethnic ministries. Individual congregations cannot apply directly.
 
Program Objectives:

1. Leadership Development

• Contextually appropriate local church training programs and resources for emerging racial- ethnic leaders.
• Local church training programs and opportunities that develop children, youth and young adults in racial-ethnic churches.

2. Church Growth and Development

• The development of racial-ethnic new church starts and congregations.
• The revitalization of existing and emerging racial-ethnic congregations.
• The development, resourcing and multi-cultural congregations and ministries.
• One-year salary support for racial-ethnic pastors in racial-ethnic local churches and/or racial-ethnic pastoral leadership involved in the development and strengthening of racial-ethnic congregations. (This salary supplement cannot be used to meet conference minimum salary or to complete equitable compensation and salary supplement funds must include the appropriate fringe benefits.) 

Program Criteria:

No more than $10,000 can be used in a singular congregation.
The ministry/project must focus on developing and strengthening the racial-ethnic local church for witness and mission.
The ministry/project must be a program of a majority racial-ethnic local church or annual conference of the United Methodist Church in the United States.
Grant funds must be used for ministry within the local church setting.
Block grants can be used to provide smaller grant awards to local racial/ethnic churches.

Click here to apply.
 
Annual Conferences are eligible to apply for both the Annual Conference Multiethnic Ministries Grant AND the Racial/Ethnic Local Church Grant.
To learn more about additional grant opportunities to support congregations in your conference, click here.  https://umcmission.org/work/church-engagement/multiethnic-ministries.
 
For questions, please contact Executive Director of Multiethnic Ministries, Dana Lyles at dlyles@umcmission.org.

Editor’s Note: The following message was sent to United Methodists of Upper New York on Thursday, March 5 on behalf of Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez about the permanent closing of Casowasco Camp & Retreat Center.

“For everything there is a season…” Ecclesiastes 3:1 

Dear United Methodists in Upper New York, 

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, who accompanies us in every season of ministry. 

In June 2024, the Conference Leadership Team (CLT), together with our Camp & Retreat Ministries, entered a time of deep listening and honest assessment regarding Casowasco Camp & Retreat Center. After years of declining participation and significant deferred maintenance, we discerned in January 2025 that Casowasco needed a season of Sabbath to listen, evaluate, and seek God’s direction with clarity. 

In November 2025, Interim Site Director Rev. Colin Kerr Carpenter presented a thoughtful reopening plan with clear benchmarks for readiness, guest engagement, and financial sustainability. The Leadership Team affirmed this plan as a faithful test of long-term viability. Rev. Kerr Carpenter worked tirelessly over the next four months, investing in relationships, reaching out to guest groups, and pursuing every viable path forward. We are deeply grateful for his dedicated leadership. 

On March 3, 2026, the Conference Leadership Team met to review the reopening plan. Unfortunately, the progress made was not sufficient. After a candid conversation and prayerful discernment, the CLT decided that ministry at Casowasco has come to its faithful completion.  

The Conference Board of Trustees will steward the property as the next steps are discerned. Any further action will require approval by the Annual Conference. Staff will contact all groups with reservations to offer support. 

We give thanks – deep, heartfelt thanks - for more than 75 years of transformative ministry at Casowasco—years in which countless people encountered Christ, discovered their callings, formed lifelong friendships, and experienced healing and hope. We will gather at a later date to honor this legacy with gratitude and celebration. 

Even as this chapter closes, Camp & Retreat Ministries in Upper New York remain very important to our shared mission. Skye Farm, Sky Lake, Asbury, and Aldersgate continue to offer Christian hospitality, nurture disciples, form leaders, and empower people to love boldly, serve joyfully, and lead courageously. Since June 2025, we have been working with The Sherry Group, a renowned camping and non-profit consultants’ firm, to study the governance structure of our Camping & Retreat Ministries. We are now ready to continue this partnership to adapt our strategic, administrative, and operational systems to enhance the health and impact of our camp & retreat ministries.  

In this tender moment, we hold in prayer all who feel the weight of this decision, those shaped in small and large ways by Casowasco, those who grieve with aching hearts, and those who carry memories that will forever remain holy. We move forward trusting that the God who met us at Casowasco is still leading us—faithfully and lovingly—into a future filled with promise. 

May the peace of Christ guard our hearts, and may the Spirit guide our steps into God’s unfolding future. 

Paz,  

Bishop Héctor A. Burgos-Núñez 
The United Methodist Church
Serving the Susquehanna & Upper New York Area 

Editor's Note: The Council of Bishops President, Bishop Tracy S. Malone, releaesed a statement on March 1, 2026 calling for prayer and peace in the Middle East. 

We know that our hearts are heavy as we witness the mounting loss of life from the ongoing military strikes carried out by the United States and Israel, and from retaliatory strikes by Iran. Families are grieving the loss of loved ones, and entire communities are shaken by the weight of uncertainty, fear, and profound sorrow. Innocent civilians are caught in the crossfire of a widening conflict they did not choose.

Scripture reminds us that “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). As bishops of The United Methodist Church, we hold fast to this promise as we pray for all who have been killed, all who are injured, and all who now carry trauma and fear in the wake of this violence. We stand resolute in remembering the uncompromising call of Jesus: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). This calling is a summons to act with courage and with a steadfast commitment to honoring the dignity and life of every human being.

We urge leaders on every side to turn from the escalation of violence and seek paths toward justice, reconciliation, and lasting peace. We implore them to place the protection of innocent lives at the center of every decision. 

As followers of Christ, let us be steadfast in prayer for those whose lives were taken that they may rest in God’s eternal peace. Let us pray for the wounded that healing and comfort may surround them. Let us pray for families and communities in mourning that they may find strength for the days ahead. And let us pray for leaders and nations that they may choose the path of peace over the path of destruction.

May God’s Spirit move among us and within us, guiding our hearts toward justice, compassion, and the hard, holy work of peacemaking. May we be instruments of Christ’s peace in a world yearning for healing.

In Christ's mercy,

Bishop Tracy S. Malone
President, Council of Bishops
The United Methodist Church